She was the Goddess of Healers, Poets, Smiths, Childbirth and Inspiration; Goddess of Fire and Hearth and a patron of warfare. She is said to be present at every birth.

As the Goddess of Inspiration, she blesses poetry, creativity, prophecy and the arts. She was even esteemed as the patron deity of language, having inspired the alphabet. As the Goddess of Smithcraft, she blesses blacksmiths, goldsmiths, and other crafters of the household. As Goddess of Healing, she blesses physical and spiritual healing, fertility of crop and livestock and mid-wifery.

Many legends are told about Brigit. Some say that there are three Brigits : one sister in charge of poetry and inspiration who invented the Ogham alphabet, one in charge of healing and midwifery, and the third in charge of the hearth fire, smithies and other crafts.

Her Signs and Symbols

A Solar Sign, the St. Brigit's-Cross:

Up to today many Irish homes have a St. Brigit's cross for protection - made from rushes as in the old days.

Brigid's Mantle

Spear: She favored the use of the spear or the arrow. Indeed, various interpretations of her name exist including, "Bright Arrow," "The Bright One," "the Powerful One" and "The High One," depending upon the region and the dialect.

The household fire is sacred to Brigit

Sacred Animal of St. Brigit : cow

The Keepers have the symbol for her that is worn on the right fore arm . ID cards will be issued to all registered members in good standing.

Offerings

* Candles and fires burned to her honor.

* Other sacrifices like flowers and milk were offered where three streams came together.

Offerings to the watery aspect of Brigit were cast into the well in the form of coins or, even more ancient, brass or gold rings.

History of the Flame of Kildare

"The High One" was cannonized by the Catholic church as St. Brigit and various origins are given to this saint.

The most popular folktale is that She was midwife to the Virgin Mary, and thus was always inviked by women in labor. The more official story was that She was a Druid's daughter who predicted the coming of Christianity and then was baptized by St. Patrick. She became a nun and later an abbess who founded the Abbey at Kildare (450-523). The Christian Brigit was said to have had the power to appoint the bishops of her area, a strange role for an abbess, made stranger by her requirement that her bishops also be practicing goldsmiths. Actually, the Goddess Brigit had always kept a shrine at Kildare, Ireland, with a perpetual flame tended by nineteen virgin priestesses called Daughters of the Flame. No male was ever allowed to come near it; nor did those women ever consort with men. Even their food and other supplies were brought to them by women of the nearby village. When Catholicism took over in Ireland, the shrine became a convent and the priestesses became nuns but the same traditions were held and the eternal flame was kept burning. Their tradition was that each day a different priestess/nun was in charge of the sacred fire and on the 20th day of each cycle, teh fire was miraculously tended by Brigit Herself. There into the 18th century, the ancient song was sung to her : "Brigit, excellant woman, sudden flame, may the bright fiery sun take us to the lasting kingdom." For over a thousand years, the sacred flame was tended by nuns, and no one knows how long before that it had been tended by the priestesses. In 1220 CE, a Bishop became angered by the no-males policy of the Abbey of St. Brigit of Kildare. He insisted that nuns were subordinate to priests and therefore must open their abbey and submit themselves to inspection by a priest. When they refused and asked for another Abbess or other female official to perform any inspections, the Bishop was incensed. He admonished them to obedience and then decreed that teh keeping of the eternal flame was a Pagan custom and 6rdered the sacred flame to be extinguished. Even then, She remained the most popular Irish saint along with Patrick.

Her Fire was rekindled and kept alight until the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1541).

In the 1960's, under Vatican II modernization, it was declared that there was insufficient proof of Brigit's sanctity or even of her historical existence, and so the Church's gradual progra setup for Shrines to Brigitm against Brigit was successful at last and She was thus decanonized.

And in 1993, the Brigidine sisters of Ireland rekindled her flame at Kildare.

It was said that when the saint died, on 1 February 525 (eg on Imbolc: the festival sacred to the Goddess Brighid) the number of nuns who tended the fire remained the same -- 19 -- and that on the 20th day the saint herself kept it alive.

On Imbolc, 1993, the Daughters of the Flame lit a fire in honour of the Goddess Brighid, modelled after the perpetual fire which once burned in Kildare. We share the task of tending the flame, on a twenty day rotation; each woman tends the fire in her own way, so that it is a solitary devotion linked to the devotions of a larger group. On the twentieth day the Goddess Herself keeps the flame alive.

Sources used for the History of the flame of Kildare: Morning Glory Zell from AMARGI Vol I. No.3 Feb. 1st 1989 and an article of Casey Wolf - Sisters of the Flame.

Shrine Garments

SHRINE GARMENTS

The Robe, and the sash will be available from the Shrine of Brigit and there will be a price list available when all the formalities are finalised.

Belts/Colours:

As a Correllian Shrine, these will be our belt colours. Garnet for all dedicants - who are studying for their first degree in Correllian Wicca. White for all who are of First Degree Status. Black for all who are of Second Degree Status. Red for all who are of Third Degree Status. Green for all Outer Court Members (who are members which are free to attend shrine/temple ceremonies but are not expected to train for clergy). These will only apply to all those who are of the Correllian Degrees only.

Robe and Sash:

As a Correllian Shrine, our Shrine robe will be basic black. With a few other members of the Correllian Clergy who are also founding shrines in other countries, we have decided to add the Sash. This will represent the Shrine which the colour is associated with. For instance, the Shrine of LaVeda, will have a red sash to represent the root chakra, and the most physical, with symbolic reference to the colour of our sunburnt country.

WHEN ORDERING YOUR ROBE

Please include the following details with your email/request to join the shrine.

Just need to know the measurements as follows?

* From back of neck (where t-shirt would sit) to your ankle = ?cm

* From the middle of your back (from the spine) to wrist = ?cm

* From underarm to wrist = ?cm

* Bust measurement = ?cm

* Hip measurement = ?cm

And Please did not forget to include postage/freight as mentioned on bottom of price list.